Dutch Cinemas Become 100% Digital

Every Dutch film theatre and cinema has been
equipped with digital projection equipment. Out of the 789 screens in the
Netherlands, 506 were converted to accommodate digital projection by Cinema
Digitaal, in conjunction with integrator Arts Alliance Media; theatre chains
Pathé, Utopolis, Euroscoop and a few independent theatres implemented the
conversion independently.

The collaborative Cinema Digitaal project made
a collective transition possible all throughout the Netherlands and prevented
the compulsory closing of small film theatres and cinemas. This technological
conversion in the cinema business demanded a high investment that would have
been financially unfeasible for many exhibitors without the support of Cinema
Digitaal. The large-scale digitisation project is based on the principle of
solidarity: commercial cinemas cooperated together with film theatres and, by
doing so, the existing culturally diverse and close-knit exhibition network was
able to be maintained and film continues to be accessible in all of the
Netherlands. The coordinated transition from analogue to digital was realised
over a very short time, which meant the costs of running a dual system (distributing
analogue and digital film) were limited. The first installation took place on
20 July 2011, and the transition was completed in just 14 months.
In total, the Cinema Digitaal project cost €39
million. The biggest share of the project (70%) was paid for by the film
distribution companies that are active in the Netherlands: 20 independents and
6 major American studios, under a Virtual Print Fee (VPF) model, implemented by
Arts Alliance Media. Distributors were willing to invest in the one–time
replacement of 35mm projectors, because of the savings that will be made now
the production of celluloid film prints will disappear. Cinema Digitaal was
co-financed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation (€3
million from the Implementation Programme Agenda ICT Policy /PRIMA) and the
Netherlands Film Fund (€2 million). As a whole, the film sector in the
Netherlands invested around €55 million in the digitisation. With the
digitisation of the Dutch cinema exhibition business, celluloid film (35mm
film) has nearly disappeared from the cinemas.

There are innumerable advantages to digital
projection: wider distribution of films, more flexible programming, and
improved image and sound quality. Films can be screened more quickly throughout
the entire country. Digitisation also creates new possibilities for distribution
via satellite and fibre optics. Additionally, every exhibitor now has the
option to expand what they offer to include (live) concerts, opera, theatre
productions or sporting events.

Ron Sterk of the NVB and a driving force
behind Cinema Digitaal: ‘The year 2012 will bring the end of more than 100
years of screening analogue film. With the digitisation of cinemas, our
business is undergoing tremendous innovation. Digitisation provides better
quality, more efficiency, offers countless new possibilities for exhibitors and
a wider availability of films for Dutch audiences’.

About Arts Alliance Media:Arts Alliance
Media (AAM) is a global leader in digital cinema software and services,
offering cutting-edge solutions in software as well as installation,
maintenance and support across the cinema ecosystem. AAM’s software
products include the SCREENWRITER Theatre Management System (TMS); PRODUCER –
an enterprise TMS and content management system operating across the entire
cinema circuit; LIFEGUARD – an
enterprise system designed to monitor and manage hardware as well as power
Network Operations Centres (NOCs); and ADFUSER – a campaign management tool to
simplify cinema advertising and increase incremental revenues. Our software
touches over 20,000 screens worldwide across North America, Latin America,
Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia Pacific while our NOC supports over
11,000 screens globally.Arts Alliance Media Directory pageArts Alliance Media Web Site